Healed
by snoozie2105
Summary: JJ needs Rossi's help. Takes place after Damaged.


Ever since that night at the Palmer Hotel in Indianapolis, when he said he hadn't been able to bring himself to put up a Christmas tree since the case that would haunt him for twenty years, Jennifer Jareau hadn't been able to get David Rossi out of her mind. Yes, he was, as Prentiss had put it so well, "a fussy, anal retentive neat-freak who never leaves anything out of its place," but for all the appearances of being put-together and in control, he was also a man in desperate need of help. He would never come right out and admit it, but he wouldn't be able to deny it if her plan went off as she hoped. It had to.

JJ was well aware of Rossi's reputation well before he came back to the BAU. Who wasn't? What she didn't know, but came to realize after several months of working with him and meeting up with him for drinks or late suppers after the rest of the team had retired for the evening, was that he was witty and warm, and that she liked him. A lot. Too much. Practical JJ could convince herself that was wrong on many levels, but dreamy JJ could convince herself that it was right on many levels too.

Practical JJ and dreamy JJ fought each other as she walked down the hall from her office to Rossi's. She told herself that her practical side won – he had a long-standing dread of Christmas, and she wanted help with her decorations – but there were no guarantees that it would be strong enough to fend off her dreamy side for long.

Knocking had become a formality for them, and as JJ breezed into his office, Rossi looked from the file he was reading to the woman he was always happy to see. "Jennifer. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Can't I stop in and say hello?"

"Sure," he said, regarding her suspiciously, "but judging from the look on your face, and the fact that you're sitting, I suspect that you have ulterior motives."

"You're very sharp, Agent Rossi," she replied as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Very observant."

He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and before he could stop himself, he smiled mischievously and said, "When it comes to you, I don't miss a thing."

JJ blushed and looked away. "Well. Thank you. I was wondering if you had plans Saturday evening."

"Saturday evening?"

"Yes. This Saturday, say, five-ish."

"No. Why?"

"I need help."

"Help with what?"

"Must so you ask so many questions?" She raised one carefully waxed and tweezed eyebrow at him.

"Yes. I like to know what's involved before I commit myself."

Dreamy JJ told practical JJ that was a loaded statement, but it was practical JJ who answered. "I need help with Christmas decorations." Better not tell him about the tree just yet.

He sighed. "Jennifer, you know I'm not keen on Chri – "

"Yes, Dave, I know – you're not keen on Christmas, but I really need your help." She twisted a strand of hair around her finger and put on a slight pout. "Don't turn me down. Please."

He couldn't have, even if he wanted to, and truth be told, he didn't want to. One look at those big blue eyes and soft pink lips, and he heard himself saying, "Okay. You know I wouldn't do this for just anyone, don't you?"

"I know!" She hopped to her feet, rounded his desk, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Saturday, five o'clock. I'll make supper. Don't be late."

With that, she was gone, and as he watched her weave her way through the bullpen, David Rossi wondered just when he had become such a pushover for Jennifer Jareau.

~*~

JJ loved Saturdays at home. She slept in, went for a run, got caught up on her laundry and housework, took a bubble bath, and settled in for an evening of television and junk food, all at her leisure, but always by six or seven o'clock. She was away so much that going out held zero appeal. She much preferred to wrap up in a blanket she'd had since she was eight years old, fix herself a drink and just veg.

But this Saturday was different. She was expecting Rossi at five, and she had to get out all her decorations, come up with something to fix for supper, and make herself look good, yet not too good. Her cleaning would have to do with a lick and a promise. She didn't want to be rushed when he arrived.

At four-fifty she was dressed in jeans that fit as if they'd been made just for her, a dark red henley that showed just a hint of cleavage, and wool socks. With simple make up and small silver hoops hanging from her ears, she thought she'd hit just the right note between casual and subtly sexy.

At five, her doorbell rang, and she took a quick look through the peephole to make sure it was indeed Rossi standing on her doorstep. Her heart fluttered as she noticed he was wearing her favorite jeans of his and a worn flannel shirt. Practical JJ put dreamy JJ in her place, and fast. She couldn't leave him standing out in the cold to freeze to death while she ogled him through the peephole. She had to let him in.

"Hey, you," she said as she opened the door.

"Hey, yourself," he replied. She didn't miss his eyes traveling over her. "I brought a bottle of that wine you liked so much last time we went to Isabella's."

Okay, this is nice, practical JJ and dreamy JJ agreed. "Dave, you remembered," she said as she accepted the bottle and stepped back so he could enter. "Thank you. But I hope you weren't thinking that you could get me drunk and I'd forget about the decorating."

"It did occur to me," he chuckled, "but then I realized that it would only buy me another day, two, at most, while you recovered from your hangover."

"You're right – I'm not letting you off the hook that easily," she replied saucily. "I'll put the wine in the kitchen and then we'll get started."

~*~

Two and a half hours later, Jennifer Jareau's condo was worthy of a spread in _House Beautiful_, thanks in no small part to David Rossi. She'd had him arranging garland (he should've guessed that nothing would do but the real kind) and stringing white lights on the mantle and the staircase, crawling around on the floor and behind furniture to plug in those lights, hanging a wreath on her door (again, the real kind), and setting out at various locations small decorations that had been handed down to her through her family. It amazed him that she had accumulated so many decorations in her comparatively short life.

He had really meant it when he asked her if she knew he wouldn't do this for just anyone. She knew how he felt about Christmas, and she was totally capable of doing her own decorating. Yet she had asked for his assistance anyway, which indicated either a desire to help him or a total disregard of his feelings. He seriously doubted the latter was behind her request, and if he were honest with himself, he'd say he was touched by her concern, but not surprised. It was just the type of person she was. And who was he to turn down an opportunity to spend time with the woman who had quickly worked her way into his heart?

"Are you happy?" he asked as they plopped down on the couch, wine glasses in hand, to admire their work.

"Very," she replied, practical JJ and dreamy JJ getting along for the moment. "Thanks for helping."

"Thanks for asking."

"There's just one more thing we have to do." She looked over at him.

He looked back at her. "And what would that be?"

"The tree."

"Jennifer – "

She held up her hand and offered him an understanding smile. "Don't. I remember what you said that night in Indianapolis, and I haven't been able to forget it. We solved the case, Dave ... don't you think it's time to let go? To move on?" She took his hand and held it tightly in hers. "I thought that getting you over here and having you help me might start that process."

"It has," he murmured as he gazed into her eyes, dangerously close to getting lost in them. "And I know it probably sounds crazy to you, but I don't know if I can handle the tree. I know you saw the photos, but to see the crime scene in person ...."

She considered his words carefully, seeing the pain in his eyes and not wanting to push him. "Tell you what," she said as she set their glasses on the coffee table and pulled him up from the couch. "Let's eat dinner, then we'll come back to the tree. If you want to, I'll be thrilled, but if you don't want to, then we'll do it next year, or the next, or the next ... however long it takes for you to feel ready, I'll wait."

~*~

"My God," Rossi said as he laid his knife and fork down by his now-clean plate. "Jennifer, if you believe that preparing one of the best meals I've eaten in longer than I care to remember is going to influence me ...."

"Yes, Dave?" she asked sweetly.

"You may be right."

Maybe it was the situation, maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the electricity they both felt – hell, it was probably a combination of all three – but whatever it was, the tenor of the evening had changed. For the better, dreamy JJ said. They'd laughed and teased and joked as they ate her special pot roast with potatoes and carrots.

She smiled to herself, watching Rossi closely as he finished his wine. He always looked good, damn good, but he'd never looked so relaxed, so – dare she allow herself to think it? – happy. And that meant more to her than anything. Practical JJ said that if she had contributed to that happiness in some small way, she was happy too, that was enough for her. Dreamy JJ said they could have this every day, and she wanted this every day.

"Let me help you clean up," Rossi said as he pushed back from the table.

She knew what he was trying to do: put off or avoid decorating the tree. But if a little more time was what he wanted or needed, then she'd give it to him. "I believe I'll take you up on that offer," she said as she handed him a drying towel. "But I get to wash."

"What? You don't think I'm going to do it right?" he asked, grinning at her.

"N-o-o-o." She tried to ignore him and concentrate on running the hottest water she could stand. "I just like to wash."

"What if I said I like to wash too?" He stood behind her, rolled up his sleeves, and put his hands in the soapy water. They immediately found hers. His breath tickled her ear and his chest was solid against her back. "How's this for a compromise?"

"F-fine," she managed to say.

"Playing in the water is much more fun when you have someone with you," he whispered huskily, his hands sliding over hers as they washed a plate.

If he can make washing dishes foreplay, dreamy JJ wondered, what would it be like to really be with him? She felt herself leaning her head back to give him access to her neck. He was so close, and his beard and lips would feel so good on that sensitive spot just below her earlobe ....

Not two seconds after he made that fantasy a reality, practical JJ was back, screaming that he was a master manipulator, trying to distract her. "David Rossi! What do you think you're doing?!" She whipped around to face him, flinging suds all over the kitchen.

He looked stunned but recovered quickly. "Nothing you don't want me to do!" he shot back.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How can you be so sure?"

He ran a still-wet hand through his hair and sighed, frustrated. "All evening you've been teasing me, and just now, you let yourself relax into me, you tilted your head to the side so I could kiss you. You used your feminine wiles on me! I could feel your heart beat faster, I could hear your breath become shallow. Just try to tell me you honestly didn't know what you were doing!"

"I am trying to help you!" she cried.

"Help me?! By seducing me?!"

"Yes! No!" She turned away from him and dropped her hands back into the dishwater, searching for a fork or a spoon they might have missed. "I don't know!"

Rossi placed a firm yet gentle finger under JJ's chin and made her look at him. "Jennifer, why don't you really tell me why you invited me over tonight? I have a few ideas, but I'm having a hard time putting them together, and I'd really appreciate it if you would enlighten me."

When she looked into his eyes, she realized she couldn't keep the charade up any longer. "I-I had a couple of motives," she confessed.

"Yes?" he prompted. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

"First and foremost," she began slowly, "I wanted to help you with Christmas. When we were in Indianapolis, I could see and feel how deeply that case had affected you, and I wanted nothing more than to take that pain away." She saw him nod, his eyes understanding, and she felt comfortable going on. "Then I just wanted to spend time with you, away from work, to be with you as a man and a woman, not as colleagues. I-I have feelings for you, Dave, feelings that I have no business having, but I care too much about you to let the chance pass by. I thought maybe I could accomplish both those goals tonight."

When he didn't say anything, she laughed nervously. "I just wish I'd gone about it better. I feel like I sorta played you, and I'm not that kind of woman. This night was supposed to be all about you. And I would never make light of something that truly bothered you. I'm sorry."

That got him. "Jennifer, honey, you have nothing to be sorry for," he said as she pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I don't think anyone has gone to such lengths to show me that they care."

"Really?" she asked incredulously, looking up at him.

"Really. And now that you've come clean with me, I need to come clean with you." His voice was soft as he continued. "I, uh, I've been interested in you since I met you. Why do you think I've singled you out for company? I just as easily could have joined Morgan for a drink, or listened to Peter Coyote read the entire Foundation Trilogy with Reid, or kept working on whatever case we had, but I didn't. I wanted to be with you then, and I want to be with you now."

His admission took the sting out of the embarrassment she'd felt at thinking her plan had failed. It hadn't, after all. "So I guess we've sorta played each other, huh?"

"You could say that," he chuckled. "I think we're even now."

"Me too," she murmured as she placed a soft kiss on his Adam's apple. "But there is still the matter of a Christmas tree to be decorated."

"You are determined, aren't you?" he replied, gazing down at her.

"Yes. Now are we gonna do it or not?"

~*~

The tree was in the tree stand, the tree skirt had been spread around it, and the lights had been strung. It was time for the ornaments.

JJ sat in the floor, going through boxes, trying to pick out the perfect ornament for Rossi to hang. It would be his first in twenty years, and it had to be special.

"How are we doing?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Okay," he replied. "Have you found one for me yet?"

"I have one in mind, I just have to find it."

After opening a few more boxes, she found what she'd been searching for. "A-ha! Here it is!" She stood up, the ornament in hand, and joined Rossi at the tree.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a bell."

"A bell?"

"Yes. According to my grandmother, it belonged to her grandmother, who said that bells guide lost sheep back to the fold."

His hand clasped hers that held the bell ornament. "Very appropriate, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes," she replied quietly, "I would."

"Would you help me?"

"Of course."

When the tree was finished, they spooned on her couch, the living room dark except for the lights on the tree. "Jennifer?"

"Yes, Dave?"

"Next year, let's do our tree at our house."


End file.
